In a brilliant, late-summer sky above the eastern Mediterranean, F-14
jet fighters from the U.S. carrier Eisenhower roared over Beirut and
headed toward the mountains of Lebanon. Only a few hours earlier, Super
Etendard strike fighters from the French aircraft carrier Foch had
conducted similar exercises. Officially, both the American and French
warplanes were on reconnaissance flights. In reality, they were
sounding a warning to Druze militiamen in the Chouf Mountains of
Lebanon: from that day forward, the planes could be ordered to...